


Disillusioned

by badly_knitted



Category: FAKE (Manga)
Genre: Bars and Pubs, Chocolate, Detectives, Drama, Established Relationship, Fluff, Love, M/M, Romance, Stress Relief, Workplace Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:53:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28773399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badly_knitted/pseuds/badly_knitted
Summary: Ryo’s feeling disillusioned with the job so Dee decides he needs cheering up.
Relationships: Dee Laytner/Randy "Ryo" MacLean
Comments: 4
Kudos: 2





	Disillusioned

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Jae's Monthly Drabble Challenge 179 - Pick-me-up.
> 
> **Setting:** After Vol. 7.

“You’re not looking too happy,” Dee said as Ryo slumped into his seat at the desk across from his partner’s. “What happened?”

Ryo had been in court all afternoon, testifying on a case Dee hadn’t been involved in.

“That slimy bastard Kendrick got off on a technicality!”

“He what?” Dee couldn’t believe it; according to Ryo the case against Damon Kendrick had been watertight.

“One of the witnesses against him claimed he’d been coerced into testifying, and that he hadn’t actually seen anything. Now the uniformed officer who took his statement is in trouble. As if that wasn’t enough to throw doubt on proceedings, a key piece of evidence, the knife with his prints and the victim’s blood all over it, has gone missing.” Ryo rested his elbows on his desk, head in hands. “We had him, Dee! He killed that poor girl and he got away with it anyway! Sometimes I wonder if we’re making any difference at all.”

“Don’t talk like that; we are, and you know it.” Dee leaned forward across his desk. “Yeah, sometimes a scumbag like Kendrick walks, but how many similar scumbags have we put behind bars over the last six months?”

Ryo frowned, thinking back. “Four? No, five, I almost forgot Madsen.”

“There ya go; five convictions, one loss. That’s pretty damn good. We’re makin’ a big difference, bud, and we’ll get Kendrick in the end. Guys like that, they get overconfident and they slip up. We just gotta be patient.”

“But how many more girls will suffer at his hands before then?” Ryo sighed. “I was so sure we’d get a conviction, and now…” He shook his head.

“It sucks, I know, but ya can’t let it get ya down. It’s not your fault the case fell apart. Look, what you need is a pick-me-up. Shift ends in…” Dee checked his watch. “Hey, look at that; just under forty minutes! We’ll get outta here and go have some fun.”

“I’m not really in the mood, Dee.”

“I know, you’re feelin’ down, and that’s precisely why ya need to do somethin’ to shake off the gloom. If ya don’t it’s just gonna keep weighin’ on ya, and that’s not gonna do you or anyone else any good. Whaddaya say? Wanna thumb your nose at the world and prove you’re not gonna let the system beat ya down?”

Ryo raised his head to stare incredulously at his partner. “You sound like you want to start a revolution.”

“Are you implyin’ I’m revolting?”

That drew an unwilling smile from Ryo. “If the shoe fits.”

“Gee thanks, really feelin’ the love. So? You gonna spend the evenin’ mopin’ or do you wanna join me out on the town?”

“Okay, fine, we’ll go out somewhere. Just don’t blame me if I bring you down with my gloomy mood.”

“You won’t; I use a natural remedy to boost my immunity.” Dee opened his desk drawer and pulled something out. “It’s called chocolate. Here, have some.” Dee tossed a candy bar across the desk. “I guarantee you’ll feel better for it.” Dee plucked out a candy bar for himself, tearing open the wrapper and taking a bite.

With a shrug, Ryo unwrapped the candy he’d been given. He’d missed out on lunch because of the trial; he could do with a snack.

By the time the pair clocked out forty-five minutes later, they’d gone through seven candy bars between them, and Ryo was feeling marginally better. He probably should’ve found himself something healthier to eat instead of filling up with chocolate, but maybe they could get a burger or something while they were out. Not that burgers and fries were much healthier than candy, but at least there’d be lettuce and tomato, and fries counted as a vegetable, right?

“So where are we going?”

“Too early for the clubs to be open, otherwise I would’a taken ya dancin’, but I know a bar a few blocks from here with a pool table. We could kick back with a beer, play a couple games, see where the night takes us from there.”

“Okay, why not?”

They stopped at the vending machine on the way out of the precinct to get a couple more candy bars and headed down the street munching them, dropping the empty wrappers in a trash bin as they passed.

The bar was almost empty when they arrived, just a handful of regulars already installed on the bar stools and a couple of guys in business suits sitting at one of the tables. Dee fetched their drinks while Ryo racked the balls. 

It had been months since they’d last played, back before the pool table at McGinty’s had become collateral damage during a bar fight on St Patrick’s Day. It had been old and not in the best condition anyway, so no one had been all that surprised when it had collapsed, except perhaps the two huge Irishmen who’d been standing on it at the time, stamping their feet enthusiastically and cheering the combatants on. After that all it had been food for was firewood.

“Here ya go!” Dee handed his lover an open beer bottle. “Bottoms up!”

All the candy had made him a bit thirsty so Ryo gulped down several mouthfuls before setting the bottle aside. “Who’s gonna break?”

“You can; ya know I’m still gonna beat ya.”

“Oh yeah? I thought the whole idea of this was to cheer me up.”

“Well sure, but that doesn’t mean I’m just gonna let ya win. Ya wouldn’t thank me if I did.”

Ryo was willing to concede that point. “Doesn’t mean you’re gonna win though.”

“Sure it does; I’m the better player.”

“Maybe on McGinty’s battered old table, you knew every lump and bump in the felt, but you won’t have that advantage this time.” Ryo picked up his cue, bent over the table, and sent the balls scattering across the felt.

Two games and three beers later, Dee had lost twice and wasn’t thrilled by that fact but Ryo’s previous gloom had evaporated, although whether that was due to all the chocolate, the beer, or the sport was anybody’s guess.

“Thanks for this, Dee, it’s been fun. You were right, I just needed a pick-me-up.”

Dee smiled wryly. “I could use one now myself after havin’ my ass handed to me twice in one evenin’, but I’ve run out of chocolate.”

“Chocolate has its merits.” Not least of which was the energy boost Ryo had gotten from overindulging. “But I know something else that’s guaranteed to put you in a better mood.”

“Oh yeah? And what might that be?”

“Why don’t you come back to my place and find out?”

The penny dropped and Dee grinned. “Now that’s an offer I’m never gonna refuse. Lemme just pay our tab and then I’m all yours.”

“And here I was thinking you were already all mine,” Ryo teased.

“I am; never doubt that.” Dee swooped in for a quick kiss before heading for the bar while Ryo pulled his jacket on and picked up Dee’s, going ahead to met him at the door.

He’d been tired and depressed earlier but now his whole body was thrumming with energy. Sugar rush, he realised; the inevitable consequence of eating more candy than he should have. He’d never gotten the burger he was hankering after either, but that didn’t matter right now; he could rustle them both up something a bit healthier to eat later, once he and Dee had burned off some of their excess energy. He very much doubted that Dee would complain.

The End


End file.
